Floating transfer apparatus.



A. SIVHTH.

FLOATING TRANSFER APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 26, 1915'.

1 1 97,5 5 9 Patented Sept. 5, 1916.

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[AWE/1T0]? flue us Tus SMITH is rromvsys AUGUSTUS SMITH, OF ROSELLE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO BERGEN POINT IRON WORKS, OF BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

FLOATING TRANSFER APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5, 1916.

1 '0 all whom it may concern Be 1t known that I, AUGUSTUS SMITH, a

citizen of the United States of America, and I residing at Roselle, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful improvement in floating transfer apparatus for taking coal or similar material out of open barges and delivering same into other vessels or on shore, of which the following is a specification.

The type of apparatus to which my invention belongs commonly consists of a barge or pontoon, on which is mounted a derrick for operating a clamshell bucket with a receiving hopper from which the coal or other material is lifted by a tower, also carried by the pontoon, and equipped with an elevator of some sort to raise the coal to the required height for chuting to its destination. On account of the height to which the coal often has to be lifted and the topheavy character of the tower construction, as well as the tendency of the clamshell bucket apparatus to upset the pontoon, the latter has to be very wide and rather ponderous to support the apparatus without overturning. This necessary beam and size of the usual pontoon supporting the transfer elevating apparatus requires consider able room for its operation which is sometimes not available in crowded steamship slips, and such a pontoon is necessarily unwieldy and difficult to be towed about from place to place and quite incapable of propulsion by its own motive power.

The object of my invention is primarily to reduce the room required by the pontoon and I accomplish this by substituting for a single pontoon of great beam, a catamaran consisting of a long pontoon and a short pontoon arranged in L-shaped form so as to provide a berth for the barge to be unloaded alongside of the long pontoon and in front of the short pontoon, the extra width required by my transfer apparatus being merely the beam of the long pontoon which has to be designed large enough to obtain the necessary buoyancy and to leave the necessary torsional strength to withstand the digging strain'of the excavating apparatus but which does not have to provide lateral buoyant stability which is separately taken care of by the short pontoon on the usual catamaran principle.

Another advantage that my invention offers is that my vessel does not offer so much resistance to being towed and in fact can readily be moved by its own propulsion means supported by a platform framed between the two pontoons.

In the accompanying more or less schematic drawing, Figure l is a plan view of the apparatus; Fig. 2 is a side elevation with the barge omitted; Fig. 3 is a front eleva tion of the apparatus alongside a barge, the lifting tower and bridge being omitted; and Fig. at is a rear elevation looking forward, with the derrick omitted.

In Fig. 1, A is the long pontoon, B is the short pontoon, C is a platform frame between them and holding the two pontoons rigidly at a fixed distance apart so that the torsional forces for upsetting pontoon A transversely are resisted by the buoyance or the weight of the pontoon B acting in a vertical direction. The connection between the platform and pontoon B is preferably made by means of a horizontal pin 1) at right angles to the axes of the pontoons so as to form a hinge permitting pontoon B to revolve through a limited angle in a vertical plane parallel to the longitudinal midship of the vessel taken as a whole. E is an opentop barge from which material is to be excavated. F is a movable derrick equipped with a clamshell shovel arranged to excavate coal or other material from barge E and to deposit same in receiving hopper F This derrick is arranged on wheels F arranged to run on tracks F along the length of the forward deck of pontoon A so that material can be excavated from any hatch of barge E without moving the latter with respect to pontoon A. G is a combined conveyer and elevator arranged to convey the coal or other material from digger F wherever it may be on pontoon A to the tower H and to lift it to the required height for delivery through chute J which is usually swiveled and telescoped and provided with convenient derrick means for easy handling so as to deliver the material wherever it may be re quired. K is a stern paddle wheel supported by the platform 0 between the pontoons and is suggested as a suitable means of propelling the vessel by its own power. L are rudders at the stems of the pontoons for steering the vessel in the usual manner from the pilot-house M.

The power employed on this vessel is immaterial to my invention, but it will be convenient to use a steam or heavy oil or gasolene generator of power in the house carried 011 the platform C, which would drive the conveyer and elevator directly and also be available for propelling the vessel when the conveying apparatus is not in use. This source of power would preferably also generate electric current which would be desirable for operating the movable excavating derrick and for lighting the vessel at night. In some cases, when handling the coal for bunkering purposes, it may be desirable to crush the coal, in which case a crusher would be placed under the receiving hopper on the movable excavator F, and through it the coal would pass on its way to the conveyer. The crusher is not always necessary, however, and is not shown in the accompanying figures. The operator, for working the excavating derrick, could be placed in the pilot-house M over platform C, but it would usually be preferable to place him in a small booth carried by the excavating tower itself, and such a location for him is suggested at F, Fig. 2. Suitable means for rigidly clamping excavator F to the rails F on pontoon A will be understood.

Various modifications of detail will read ily occur to those skilled in the art without departing from what I claim as my invention.

I claim as my invention 1. In a floating transfer apparatus of the type described, a catamaran consisting of a long and short pontoon, affording a berth for a barge alongside the long pontoon on the same side as the short pontoon, a digging apparatus carried by the long pontoon for excavating material from a barge moored in said berth and a tower carried by the long pontoon for elevating and delivering said material, together with conveying means for transporting the material from the digger to the tower, and a chute for delivering the material from the tower.

2. In a floating transfer apparatus of the type described, a catamaran consisting of a long and a short pontoon, a digging apparatus traveling along the deck of the long pontoon and a tower on the latter for elevating and delivering dug material, together with conveying means for transporting the material from the digger to the tower, and a chute for delivering the material from the tower.

3. In a floating transfer apparatus of the type described, a catamaran consisting of a long and a short pontoon, alfording a berth for a barge alongside the long pontoon on the same side as the short pontoon, a digging apparatus carried by the long pontoon for excavating material from a barge moored in said berth and a tower carried by the long pontoon for elevating and delivering said material, together with conveying means for transporting the material from the digger to the tower, and a chute for delivering the material from the tower, together with propelling and steering means carried by the catamaran so that the apparatus can be navigated by its own power.

4. In a floating transfer apparatus of the type described, a catamaran consisting of a long and a short pontoon, a digging apparatus traveling along the deck of the long pontoon and a tower on the latter for elevating and delivering dug material, to gether with conveying means for transporting the material from the digger to the tower, and a chute for delivering the material from the tower, together with propelling and steering means carried by the catamaran so that the apparatus can be navigated by its own power.

5. In a floating transfer apparatus of the type described, a catamaran consisting of a long and a short pontoon, the latter being hinged to the framework connecting the pontoons so as to allow limited vertical rotation in a plane parallel to the midship section of the vessel taken as a whole, a digging apparatus carried by the long pontoon for excavating the material from barges moored in the berth formed by the two pontoons and a tower carried by the long pontoon for elevating and delivering said material, together with conveying means for transporting the material from the digger to the tower, and a chute for delivering the material from the tower.

6. In a floating transfer apparatus of the type described, a catamaran consisting of a long and a short pontoon, the latter being hinged to the framework connecting the pontoons so as to allow limited Vertical rotation in a plane parallel to the midship scction of the vessel taken as a whole, a digging apparatus traveling on the long pontoon so as to operate at several places along its deck, and a tower on said pontoon for elevating and delivering said material, together with conveying means for transporting the material from the digger to the tower, and a suitable chute for delivering the material from the tower.

7. In a floating transfer apparatus of the type described, a catamaran consisting of a long and a short pontoon, the latter being hinged to the framework connecting the pontoons so as to allow limited vertical rotation in a plane parallel to the midship section of the vessel taken as a whole, a digging apparatus carried by the long pon-- toon for excavating the material from barges moored in the berth formed by the two pontoons and a tower carried by the long pontoon for elevating and delivering said material, together with conveying means for transporting the material from the digger to the tower, and a chute for delivering the material from the tower, together with propolling and steering means carried by the catamaran so that the vessel can be navigated by its own power.

8. In a floating transfer apparatus of the type described, a catamaran consisting of a long and short pontoon, the latter being hinged to the framework connecting the pontoons so as to allow limited vertical rotation in a plane parallel to the midship section of the vessel taken as a whole, a digging apparatus traveling on the long pontoon so as to operate at several places along its deck, and a tower on said pontoon for elevating and delivering said material, together with conveying means for transporting the material from the digger to the tower, and a suitable chute for delivering the material from the tower, together with propelling and steering means carried by the catamaran so that the vessel can be navi-' gated by its own power.

9. In a floating transfer apparatus of the type described, a catamaran consisting of a long pontoon and a short pontoon arranged in L-shape to afford a berth for a barge alongside the long pontoon on the same side as the short pontoon, together with apparatus carried by the long pontoon for digging and delivering material from the barge.

10. In a floating transfer apparatus of the type described, a catamaran consisting of a long pontoon and a short pontoon arranged in L-shape to afford a berth "for a barge alongside the long pontoon on the same side as the short pontoon, together with apparatus carried by the long pontoon for digging and delivering material from the barge, in combination with means carried by the catamaran for navigating the same under its own power.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

AUGUSTUS SMITH.

Witnesses:

MALCOLM MoIN'rYnE, JAMES M. RYAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained tor five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

